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Why not just customizing /etc/hosts then... You guys are relying too much on 3rd party tools without knowing what they do with your data and what they're becomi

by Antwan 12y ago

Why not just customizing /etc/hosts then... You guys are relying too much on 3rd party tools without knowing what they do with your data and what they're becoming in the future.

sirn 12y ago
Testing web page with custom subdomain in a mobile devices, passing a test URL to co-workers, etc. I did this a lot, even though I have my own DNS server setup for this purpose in my own LAN, I could see myself using this if I don't already have the DNS set up.
nileshtrivedi 12y ago
How do you customize /etc/hosts on an iPad?
dan_manges 12y ago
In most cases, customizing /etc/hosts would require every person working on a project to customize their /etc/hosts the same way. It becomes a burden when somebody wants to add or change an entry. They would need to email everybody who works on the project to tell them all to make the same change.
matthewmacleod 12y ago
It's a DNS server. The only data they can get from you is what you're calling the subdomains on your apps. Yes, you could achieve the same functionality by editing /etc/hosts, but that's a pain in the arse if you're rapidly switching between a set of different sites, or if you want to access a coworker's machine in the same way. You guys are complaining too much about useful hacker-friendly tools from well-known companies.
- skywhopper 12y ago
  Editing /etc/hosts also requires root access, which becomes an issue if you're running tests on a shared server that's locked down, rather than just on your PC.
al2o3cr 12y ago
If you're developing an app that relies on wildcard subdomain matching - all the organization-oriented apps that give you a your-team-name.example.com URI, for instance - fiddling with /etc/hosts is going to become a chore.
psychometry 12y ago
Using this service doesn't touch our "data" in any way whatsoever. It's a DNS service; it's not like I need to give them access to my Postgres database and Google Analytics password.
michaelmior 12y ago
The server is open source[1] so you could always run your own if you're paranoid. [1] https://github.com/sstephenson/xipd https://github.com/sstephenson/xipd
tedchs 12y ago
This is run by 37signals, so should be pretty legit.

by Antwan 12y ago

Why not just customizing /etc/hosts then... You guys are relying too much on 3rd party tools without knowing what they do with your data and what they're becoming in the future.

sirn 12y ago

Testing web page with custom subdomain in a mobile devices, passing a test URL to co-workers, etc. I did this a lot, even though I have my own DNS server setup for this purpose in my own LAN, I could see myself using this if I don't already have the DNS set up.

nileshtrivedi 12y ago

How do you customize /etc/hosts on an iPad?

dan_manges 12y ago

In most cases, customizing /etc/hosts would require every person working on a project to customize their /etc/hosts the same way. It becomes a burden when somebody wants to add or change an entry. They would need to email everybody who works on the project to tell them all to make the same change.

matthewmacleod 12y ago

It's a DNS server. The only data they can get from you is what you're calling the subdomains on your apps. Yes, you could achieve the same functionality by editing /etc/hosts, but that's a pain in the arse if you're rapidly switching between a set of different sites, or if you want to access a coworker's machine in the same way. You guys are complaining too much about useful hacker-friendly tools from well-known companies.

skywhopper 12y ago
Editing /etc/hosts also requires root access, which becomes an issue if you're running tests on a shared server that's locked down, rather than just on your PC.

al2o3cr 12y ago

If you're developing an app that relies on wildcard subdomain matching - all the organization-oriented apps that give you a your-team-name.example.com URI, for instance - fiddling with /etc/hosts is going to become a chore.

psychometry 12y ago

Using this service doesn't touch our "data" in any way whatsoever. It's a DNS service; it's not like I need to give them access to my Postgres database and Google Analytics password.

michaelmior 12y ago

The server is open source[1] so you could always run your own if you're paranoid. [1] https://github.com/sstephenson/xipd https://github.com/sstephenson/xipd

tedchs 12y ago

This is run by 37signals, so should be pretty legit.